Gloucester Stage Serves Up a Tasty Comic Dish with ‘Seared’

August 11, 2021August 16, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Jordan Pearson, James Louis Wagner, Matt Monaco, and Emily Bosco in ‘Seared’ at the Windhover Center for the Performing Arts in Rockport. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company. Photos by Jason Grow.

Seared – Directed by Victoria Gruenberg. Scenic Design by Anya Klepikov; Stan Mathabane Sound Design by Stan Mathabane; Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson; Costume Design by Kathleen Doyle. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company at Windhover Center for the Performing Arts, 257R Granite St, Rockport, MA through August 22

by Mike Hoban

It’s an age-old question. Does making money and achieving a degree of fame from one’s chosen art form somehow diminish the art itself? If your name is Harry, the gifted chef in Theresa Rebeck’s entertaining comedy Seared, the answer is a resounding ‘YES’. After winning praise from New Yorker magazine for a particularly inventive and mouthwatering scallop dish that is boosting business at his struggling restaurant, Harry (James Louis Wagner) immediately goes full-on diva, refusing to make the meal for customers because (ostensibly) the quality of said mollusks at the fish market fail to meet his lofty standards.

Gloucester Stage’s ‘Baskerville” Is A Literal Breath of Fresh Air

July 23, 2021July 24, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Alexander Platt as Holmes and William Gardiner as Watson in Gloucester Stage’s ‘Baskerville’. All photos by Jason Grow

‘Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery’ – Written by Ken Ludwig. Directed by Jim O’Connor. Set Design by Janie E. Howland; Lighting Design by Marcella Barbeay; Original Music/Sound Design by Dewey Dellay; Costume Design by Miranda Kau Giurleo; Props Design by Emme Shaw; Dialect Coach – Erica Tobolski; Action Consultation by Robert Walsh. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company at the Windhover Center for the Performing Arts in Rockport through July 25.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Nothing could be finer than to be at theater-en-plein-air in Rockport on a clear and balmy summer evening carousing with the brilliant cast of the spectacularly entertaining Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery. Penned by Ken Ludwig, the Tony-award winning playwright of Lend Me A Tenor, this fast-paced comedic melodrama is a riff on the quintessential detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his faithful sidekick, Dr. John Watson.

This time, the dynamic duo is called upon to crack the case of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” before a family curse dooms its newest heir. Along the way, they encounter a motley crew of eccentric characters, hair pin plot twists and turns and red herrings galore. The 2-hour-15-minute (including one intermission) production flies by as five spectacularly talented actors play more than forty characters whose slapstick gestures and hyperbolic speeches they perform with impeccable pacing and precision. Couple this with stellar set, lighting, sound and prop designs, and theatergoers are in for a rollicking evening of good old-fashioned fun.

Gloucester Stage’s ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ A Welcome Return to Live Theater

June 15, 2021June 15, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Nael Nacer, Celeste Oliva, Adrian Peguero and Kelly Chick in ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ at at the Windhover Center for the Performing Arts in Rockport. All photos by Jason Grow

by Mike Hoban

‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ – Written by Nia Vardalos. Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed. Co-Conceived by Marshall Heyman, Thomas Kail, & Nia Vardalos. Directed by Lyndsay Allyn Cox. Set Design by Kristin Loeffler; Lighting Design by Kat C. Zhou; Sound Design by Elizabeth Cahill; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company at the Windhover Center for the Performing Arts in Rockport through June 27.

One of the only silver linings of having lived a life scarred by booze and drug addiction, physical/sexual abuse and abandonment is that surviving and healing from those horrors can provide a unique perspective that can be useful in helping others who have been similarly afflicted. It’s the model that 12-Step programs and other peer-to-peer support groups are built upon, and it’s also the premise of Tiny Beautiful Things, now being presented by Gloucester Stage outdoors at the Windhover Center for the Performing Arts in Rockport. If you’re looking for a re-entry production that will remind you of the power and joy of experiencing live theatrical performance, this is the ticket.

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Gloucester Stage Company Serves Up Full-Bodied Blues in ‘Paradise Blue’

October 9, 2020 Henry HarveyLeave a comment

‘Paradise Blue’ — Written by Dominique Morisseau; Directed by Jackie Davis; Produced by Gloucester Stage Company at Oneline/Virtual Space, as part of its 2020 Never Dark Series. Streaming online October 1-4 at https://gloucesterstage.com/battle-not-begun/

By Shelley A. Sackett

There’s a raw poetic cadence to the dazzling dialogue of playwright Dominique Morisseau’s final play in her trilogy set in Detroit across decades. It’s 1949, and the downtown Blackbottom entertainment district is home to many black-owned jazz clubs, including the Paradise Club. Director Jackie Davis sets the tone immediately. Against an opening montage of black and white period photos and a pained, bone-melting trumpet solo, we hear a single gunshot. This film noir trope is a perfect entrance into ‘Paradise Blue’ and an introduction to the complicated passions that drive its five characters.

1938 Munich Agreement Unmasked in Gloucester Stage’s Inventive ‘The Battle Not Begun’

September 10, 2020October 1, 2020 michaelhobanLeave a comment

‘The Battle Not Begun-Munich 1938:The Brink of War’ – Written by Jack Beatty; Directed by Miriam Myriam Cyr; Produced by Gloucester Stage Company at Oneline/Virtual Space in collaboration with Punctuate4, an all-female led production company based on the North Shore, as part of its 2020 Never Dark Series. Streaming online September 3-6 at https://gloucesterstage.com/battle-not-begun/ .

By Shelley A. Sackett

Those of us who eschew the national news in favor of mental equilibrium and spiritual health should be forewarned: it is nearly impossible to watch this historically grounded play and not draw some scary parallels to global current events. The points between 1938 and 2020 beg to be connected.

That said, ‘The Battle Not Begun,’ written by playwright and NPR news analyst Jack Beatty, is as artistically absorbing as it is factually repellant. Under Myriam Cyr’s tight editing and sharp-eyed direction, the audience becomes a fly on the wall at the fateful meeting between Adolph Hitler and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain that gave Hitler a green light to launch what became World War II.

Exploring Native Gardens at Gloucester Stage

October 13, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Leigh Strimbeck, Alaina Fragoso, Eduardo Ruiz, Patrick Shea in ‘Native Gardens’ at Gloucester Stage. Photos by Jason Grow)

Review by James Wilkinson

Native Gardens – Written by Karen Zacarias. Directed by Kelly Galvin. Scenic Design: Lindsay Genevieve Fuori. Lighting Design: Marcella Barbeau. Costume Design: Chelsea Kerl. Sound Design: Alexis Rappaport. Props Design: Emme Shaw. Produced by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 E. Main St., Gloucester through October 20.

It was idle curiosity, more than any other factor, that brought me to Gloucester Stage Company’s production of Native Gardens. The play by Karen Zacarias made Theatre Communication Group’s list of the most produced plays for the 2018/2019 season (tying for placement with Paula Vogel’s Indecent), and I think that the achievement means something about where we (and that’s the collective “we”) are right now. In an age where more plays than ever are being written and with the canon of producible plays being so vast, something about this play managed to capture the attention of audiences across the country (or maybe it’s more appropriate to say that it managed to captured the attention of the regional theater Artistic Directors). All art is reflective of the artist, but popular art is reflective of the culture. I missed the Merrimack Repertory Theatre production last year, but now the play has come to Gloucester Stage and I wasn’t going to miss the chance to partake and see just who it is we all are.

Fact, Fiction or Something in Between? ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ Asks But Doesn’t Provide Easy Answers

September 5, 2019September 5, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Lindsay Crouse in Gloucester Stage Company’s ‘The Lifespan of a Fact – Photos by Jason Grow)

By Shelley A. Sackett

‘The Lifespan of a Fact –Written by Jeremy Karaken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell based on the book by John D’Agata and Jim Fingal; Directed by Sam Weisman; Lighting Design by Marcella Barbeau; Costume Design by Gail Astrid Buckley; Props Design by Lauren Corcuera; Composer/Sound Design by Dewey Dellay, Scenic Design by J. Michael Griggs. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 E Main St., Gloucester, through September 22.

Every so often, a play so resonates with its time that the audience can’t stop thinking and talking about it for days afterwards. “The Lifespan of a Fact,” at the Gloucester Stage Theatre through September 22, is such a show, and theatergoers should flock to see it for its thought-provoking, razor-sharp script and spot-on production.

Gloucester Stage Company Tries to Measure the ‘Lifespan of a Fact’

September 4, 2019September 4, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Lindsay Crouse as Emily, the editor and Derek Speedy as Jim, the fact checker in Gloucester Stage Company’s ‘Lifespan of a Fact’. Photos by Jason Grow)

Review by James Wilkinson

‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ – Written by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell. Directed by Sam Weisman. Scenic Design: J Michael Griggs. Lighting Design: Marcy Barbeau. Costume Design: Gail Astrid Buckley. Sound Design: Dewey Dellay. Props Design: Lauren Corcuera. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 E. Main St. Gloucester through September 22^nd.

Truth (and that’s with a capital ‘T’) is one of those words artists throw around when they’re in an especially pretentious mood. The idea that the glory of art is its pursuit of a higher truth is an idea drilled into arts students at school, mostly as a defense when their parents express concerns that they’re not pursuing a more “practical” career path. I’ve never really been able to buy into those lofty notions about truth. It’s not that I doubt art’s ability to investigate concepts, it’s that I’ve had to listen to too many hack artists use the party line as an excuse for whatever bit of nonsense they’re up to at the moment. When you counter their claim with inquiry, “Yes, but what does that mean?” you’ll usually send them stumbling into some vague definition for that grand word: Truth.

THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT – Gloucester Stage

September 1, 2019September 19, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Mickey Solis, Lindsay Crouse and Derek Speedy in THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT at Gloucester Stage

By Sheila Barth

BOX INFO: One-act, 90-minute play by Jeremy Kareken and David Murrell, and Gordon Farrell, based on the book/essay by John D’Agata and Jim Fingal, starring superstar Lindsay Crouse, through September 22, at Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main St., Gloucester. Showtimes: Wednesday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m; matinees, Saturday, Sunday, 2 p.m.. $15-$48; discounts for military families, senior citizens, college students, 18-year-olds-under, and Cape Ann residents. 978-281-4433, gloucesterstage.com.

When is a fact a fact?

When is it necessary to tell the truth factually, not creatively?

When do details overshadow a creative effort to gather and write a compelling essay?

What is the difference between a journalist and a writer?

What about fake news?

Gloucester Stage’s ‘Ben Butler’ Is Much More Than A Historical Comedy

August 16, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Lieutenant Kelly (Doug Bowen-Flynn), Shepard Mallory (Shane Taylor), and Major General Benjamin Butler (Ames Adamson) in Gloucester Stage’s production of ‘Ben Butler’. Photos by Jason Grow)

By Shelley A. Sackett

‘Ben Butler’ –Written by Richard Strand; Directed by Joseph Discher; Scenic Design by Greg Trochlil; Lighting Design by Russ Swift; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Props Design by Lauren Corcuera; Sound Design by Joseph Discher. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 E Main St., Gloucester, through August 25.

On May 23, 1861, smack in the middle of the Civil War, the citizens of Virginia voted overwhelmingly to secede from the United States. The next day, General Benjamin Butler, commander of Union-held Fort Monroe, VA, finds himself in an unusual moral and legal pickle. Three escaped slaves have showed up at the fort’s doorstep seeking sanctuary. Under the Fugitive Slave Act, settled federal law since its 1850 enactment, General Butler is required to return them to their owner.